Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Can someone please tell Notre Dame it’s allowed to have easy wins that don’t induce heart attacks as it tries to keep its season alive? Then again, if the Irish somehow get into the NCAA tournament, everyone will remember moments like last week’s …
Can someone please tell Notre Dame it’s allowed to have easy wins that don’t induce heart attacks as it tries to keep its season alive? Then again, if the Irish somehow get into the NCAA tournament, everyone will remember moments like last week’s thriller against North Carolina and Wednesday’s equally exciting win over Boston College. At the very least, T.J. Gibbs has a memory that will stay with him forever. Relive the moments that defined Ash Wednesday’s incredible game here:
Notre Dame has been playing with a chip on its shoulder lately, knowing the next loss will more or less put an end to their NCAA tournament hopes. The big story right now is not so much that it’s staying alive, but doing so in dramatic fashion. If …
Notre Dame has been playing with a chip on its shoulder lately, knowing the next loss will more or less put an end to their NCAA tournament hopes. The big story right now is not so much that it’s staying alive, but doing so in dramatic fashion. If you thought last week’s over North Carolina was exciting, try Wednesday’s 62-61 win over Boston College on for size.
The Irish (18-10, 9-8) and Eagles (13-16, 7-11) traded a total of five field goals and lead changes over the game’s final four minutes. Luckily, the Irish made the last basket at the last possible moment. Trailing, 61-60, with eight seconds left, Prentiss Hubb moved from the left side to the free-throw line, drew a double team and found T.J. Gibbs in the paint. Gibbs took the pass and, surrounded by his own pair of Eagles defenders, put the shot up and in with 0.1 seconds left to seal the thriller.
Lost in the hoopla was John Mooney’s latest double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds. Gibbs and Nate Laszewski scored 10 apiece. Rex Pflueger provided something of a precursor to the later heroics when he stole an Eagles pass at the end of the first half and knocked in a buzzer beater from the timeline.
relive a memorable come-from-behind victory at Boston College courtesy of a TJ Gibbs floater with just .1 seconds remaining
Notre Dame is over .500 in ACC play for the first time all season after a less than stellar but still, by the skin of their teeth, victorious night at Boston College Wednesday.
The game story will be posted here shortly but for the moment, take a quick ten or so seconds and relive a memorable come-from-behind victory at Boston College courtesy of a TJ Gibbs floater with just .1 second remaining.
What. A. Finish. 🤯@NDmbb gets the win over Boston College! pic.twitter.com/VKXALZPoQq
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) February 27, 2020
Style points might not have been anywhere to be found for Notre Dame in getting by now 13-16 Boston College but hey, a win is a win and that’s infinitely more important than anything else right now in regards to Notre Dame’s very slight NCAA Tournament chances.
The underdog has covered each of the last four times Notre Dame and Boston College have met up.
Notre Dame basketball has been playing better of late aside from one awful afternoon at Duke and has worked their way to .500 in ACC play at 8-8. They haven’t however surpassed the .500 mark in conference play this season despite having a couple of chances to earlier this month before falling in road games against Duke and Virginia.
The Fighting Irish get another chance at getting over the .500 hump tonight as they’re in Boston College to take on an Eagles team who beat them back in December, 73-72 at Notre Dame.
Notre Dame is listed as a 4.5 point favorite over the Eagles tonight with the total set at 142. A successful Boston College money-line bet would pay +105.
Odds via BetMGM. Access USATODAY Sports Betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated February 26 at 4:05 p.m. ET
Boston College has had their own struggles this year as they enter tonight’s contest just 13-15 overall and 7-10 in conference play compared to Notre Dame’s 17-10 (8-8) mark.
Tip-off is set for 9:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on ACC Network tonight.
A couple of notes for tonight’s game – reminder none of these guarantee a damn thing:
-Notre Dame guard TJ Gibbs is averaging 16.5 points per game his last two games, most notably making 9 of 14 three point attempts in those contests.
-Notre Dame is 7-2 against the spread in their last nine games.
-The underdog has covered each of the last four times Notre Dame and Boston College have met up.
-The road team has covered in each of the last four meetings between Notre Dame and Boston College.
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-Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
Win all four and the case gets stronger with a win that could potentially knock Florida State out of ACC contention for the regular season championship.
Notre Dame basketball picked up a much-needed win over Miami on Sunday, moving them to 17-10 overall on the season and perhaps more importantly, 8-8 in ACC play. With four games to go before the ACC Tournament it’d appear that a minimum of three wins are needed to even have a chance at an NCAA Tournament berth.
There are those that spend seemingly 52 weeks a year breaking down potential brackets with who is in and who is getting whatever seed. Let’s go to them to check on the latest on Notre Dame’s very faint bubble hopes:
USA TODAY –
Notre Dame considered, just not taken too seriously. The good news is that the Fighting Irish find themselves in the “considered” list here and not on the “on life support” list. However, a total of 11 teams are listed before Notre Dame finds it’s way on the list. Best way to describe things here are like in “Dumb and Dumber” and the whole “So you’re saying there’s a chance!” line.
Joe Lunardi – ESPN
The bad news here is Notre Dame does not get listed in either the “first four out” or “next four out”. The good news? We’ll let you know when we find it.
John Gasaway – ESPN
Gasaway goes conference by conference and lists who is safely in the dance and which teams have work to do. The good news is that Notre Dame doesn’t appear to have any work to do in his eyes. However the Fighting Irish basketball team isn’t listed in the “safely in” category, either.
My thoughts:
You absolutely can’t lose any game other than the Florida State contest in the remaining four regular season games. A win over Florida State would also go a long way but another bad loss against the likes of Boston College, Wake Forest or Virginia Tech would be disasterous.
Win all four and the case gets stronger with a win that could potentially knock Florida State out of ACC contention for the regular season championship.
If Notre Dame loses to Florida State but plays them close again, all hope probably isn’t lost but a strong showing in the ACC Tournament could at least aid Notre Dame’s hopes.
In short – just win. A lot. Doesn’t matter if its close or in blowout fashion, just win otherwise the hopes are going to be gone aside from the extremely unlikely chances that Notre Dame could win the ACC Tournament.
Playing at the Mary Nutter Classic in Palm Springs, California, Sweet recorded 10 hits, six runs, eight RBI and a home run in six contests.
Notre Dame softball centerfielder Abby Sweet (junior, Hart High School/Newhall, California) was named the ACC Player of the Week for her efforts this weekend that helped the Irish to a 3-3 mark and included an upset win over No. 16 Arizona State.
Playing at the Mary Nutter Classic in Palm Springs, California, Sweet recorded 10 hits, six runs, eight RBI and a home run in six contests. She also slugged a remarkable .850 while totaling 17 bases, hitting four doubles and stealing four bases in four tries.
Sweet, sweet victory ☘️
Abby Sweet earns ACC Player of the Week after her impressive performance at the Mary Nutter Classic!https://t.co/cJvT6OJ6QG#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/5K3hO65V42
— Notre Dame Softball (@NDsoftball) February 25, 2020
Notre Dame sits with a 10-5 overall record and will travel to Duke this weekend for three games against the Blue Devils to kickoff ACC competition. The Irish ranked third in the Pre-Season ACC Coaches Poll that was released in late January.
When Notre Dame saw its 13-game winning streak against Boston College get snapped Dec. 7 at the Purcell Pavilion, it dropped to 0-2 in ACC play. For some, that was the moment they knew this season would be a disappointment, and little since then has …
When Notre Dame saw its 13-game winning streak against Boston College get snapped Dec. 7 at the Purcell Pavilion, it dropped to 0-2 in ACC play. For some, that was the moment they knew this season would be a disappointment, and little since then has caused that narrative to waver. But the Irish (17-10, 8-8) can get a little revenge when they visit the Eagles (13-15, 7-10) on Wednesday.
T.J. Gibbs will be worth watching in this game and for the rest of the season. He’s shooting 49.7 percent from the field, 51.8 percent from 3-point range and 90.2 percent from the free-throw line. No ACC player since the 1996-97 season has had a 40-50-90 line, and Gibbs would be the fourth major conference player since that season to achieve it. The last to do it was William Buford of Ohio State in the 2010-11 season.
Gibbs also needs to play 27 minutes to reach 4,000 for his career. His current total of 3,973 ranks ninth in both Notre Dame history and in the Mike Brey era.
Previewing Monday’s Louisville Cardinals at Florida State Seminoles betting odds and lines, with college basketball betting picks.
The Louisville Cardinals (23-5, 14-3 ACC) will head south to battle the Florida State Seminoles (23-4, 13-3 ACC) at Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, Fla., at 7 p.m. ET Monday. We analyze the Louisville-Florida State odds and betting lines, while providing college basketball betting tips and advice on this matchup.
The Cardinals were ranked 11th in last week’s USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll. The Seminoles were ranked 8th. (Note: The new poll will be released later Monday.)
1. The Cardinals have dropped their past two conference road games, at Clemson and at Georgia Tech, losing by an average of 10.5 points per game.
2. Florida State won the first meeting Jan. 4 by a 78-65 score at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, easily covering as 6.5-point underdogs while the Over (133.5) cashed.
3. The Cardinals rank 10th in the nation in 3-pointer percentage (38.3%), and 13th in defensive field-goal percentage (38.5%).
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Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 10:45 a.m. ET.
Florida State 76, Louisville 69
FLORIDA STATE (-139) isn’t a bad play on the moneyline based on their straight-up victory at Louisville (+115) back in early January, and the struggles of the Cardinals in their two previous road contests.
New to sports betting? Every $1.39 wagered on the Seminoles ML will profit $1 if they win.
FLORIDA STATE (-2.5, -106) is a good value at plus-money on their home floor. The Seminoles blasted the Cardinals by 13 in the first meeting, and Louisville has dropped its past two road outings by a total of 21 points. That makes the ‘Noles a nice value in Tally.
The OVER 140 (-110) has cashed in eight of the past 12 games overall for the Cardinals, including 4-2 in the past six on the road. The Over has hit in three in a row at home for FSU, and the Over also cashed in the first meeting between these ACC goliaths earlier this season.
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Whatever happ ens with Notre Dame the rest of the season, at least it can say it tried its best to stay alive down the stretch in spite of long odds. Even if the miracle everyone wants doesn’t happen, the Irish have this win over Miami and the …
Whatever happ
ens with Notre Dame the rest of the season, at least it can say it tried its best to stay alive down the stretch in spite of long odds. Even if the miracle everyone wants doesn’t happen, the Irish have this win over Miami and the recent win over North Carolina to hang their hat on. Check out what happened:
Afterwards, Mike Brey explained how his players did their job:
Notre Dame is trying to keep its slim hopes to make the NCAA tournament as an at-large team alive for as long as possible. That almost certainly means winning out for the rest of the regular season, a strong showing in the ACC tournament and then a …
Notre Dame is trying to keep its slim hopes to make the NCAA tournament as an at-large team alive for as long as possible. That almost certainly means winning out for the rest of the regular season, a strong showing in the ACC tournament and then a little love from the selection committee. But it only can take one step at a time, and the latest came in Sunday’s 87-71 win over Miami.
A John Mooney dunk off a Prentiss Hubb steal with less than eight minutes left in the first half gave the Irish (17-10, 8-8) a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Notre Dame led by 19 at halftime, so even though the Hurricanes (14-13, 6-11) scored three more points in the second half, it wasn’t nearly enough to come back.
Mooney recorded his latest double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds. Hubb also achieved a double-double of 15 points and 10 assists. T.J. Gibbs also scored 19, and Dane Goodwin had 14 off the bench.
